Critcs Best of 2010

[bono_212]

I loved Junior....a lot. I really over-hyped Senior for myself, I suppose, but the disappointment here was quite intense.

 

[u2popmofo]

I really liked the two before it. Still liked Junior, just not as much as either of those. It's weird how sometimes a slight disappointment from a band you really like seems far worse than a major disappointment from a band you're only a casual fan of.

 

[bono_212]

I still have only heard Junior and Senior. I get so caught up in trying to listen to everything that has ever come out, ever, that I sometimes miss truly discovering the bands I already like .

 

[LemonMelon]

Thank fucking christ at least one of these lists wasn't too scared to admit that Taylor is writing circles around people twice her age and released one of the albums of the year. She isn't reinventing the wheel, but fuck me if that LP isn't filled with just straight up great pop songs.

The issue is more that these outlets have their heads too far up their asses to bother with Speak Now.

Good album, I still prefer Fearless. Wouldn't be in my top 50, not that anyone would read it to notice.

 

[u2popmofo]

I still have only heard Junior and Senior. I get so caught up in trying to listen to everything that has ever come out, ever, that I sometimes miss truly discovering the bands I already like .

Haha, I know how that can go. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the first two when you get to hear them, both are good stuff!

 

[bono_212]

Haha, I know how that can go. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the first two when you get to hear them, both are good stuff!

I get a little [Insert Current Year Here] intensive during the month of December, but I do need to make time for those releases.

Speaking of which, Jesus, I just hit 120 albums for this year.

 

[u2popmofo]

I need to try to re-listen to a lot of things I've purchased this year, but haven't heard as much as I'd like as well. Friggin' December.

 

[If you shout...]

Good hell, I've only heard Candy Shoppe by Emeralds, and absolutely love it. It's like a weird mixture of Four Tet and M83. Hopefully it's not the only good thing on the album, as I have a music boner now.

Did you ever listen to Oneohtrix Point Never or any of those bands? James Ferraro/Skaters? Similar, but hardly identical, approaches on the OPN stuff and Does It Look Like I'm Here?. Mark McGuire (real name?) releases solo records away from Emeralds, and while he releases way too fucking many for any of them to be stone-cold classics, he definitely has an ample supply of stunning songs scattered across dozens of sides of wax and too many cassettes to count. I did like Tidings/Amethyst Waves from front to back, though.

Anyway, I really, truly feel that this is one of the best songs of the year. I had tears in my eyes, the first time through! I don't know if that's necessarily high praise/not creepy, but there you go.

YouTube - [2010] Mark McGuire - Brothers (for Matt)

 

[iron yuppie]

I find myself trying to play catch-up right now as well. This year, however, hunting down these albums has definitely been worth it. It's been an excellent year for music.

 

[cobl04]

How many 5 star albums have you heard this year? This is Happening is my only one, and Somebody's Calling Me almost drags off a few decimal points.

 

[LemonMelon]

0.

 

[mikal]

i remember really enjoying the new Here We Go Magic album. if you haven't heard it, i highly suggest it.

 

[bono_212]

I think the only 5 I gave out was to Winter of Mixed Drinks and that's not even my #1 for the year

 

[bono_212]

i remember really enjoying the new Here We Go Magic album. if you haven't heard it, i highly suggest it.

Much better than their first, but still not great, IMO.

 

[mikal]

I think the only 5 I gave out was to Winter of Mixed Drinks and that's not even my #1 for the year

oooh. while it probably wouldn't make my top 10, i do now have the urge to listen to this again. i really liked this album.

 

[u2popmofo]

Ratings are all so arbitrary. 5 might mean "perfect" for one person, or just "better than 80%" for another.

 

[bono_212]

oooh. while it probably wouldn't make my top 10, i do now have the urge to listen to this again. i really liked this album.

I love that album so very very much. Very glad I got to see them at Lolla.

Ratings are all so arbitrary. 5 might mean "perfect" for one person, or just "better than 80%" for another.

I'm such a negative nancy when it comes to ratings. I've only ever (of 687 ratings) given 22 5's on RYM, and most of those are singles or live albums

 

[bono_212]

Albums I gave 4.5s to on the other hand: The Suburbs, Flamingo, High Violet, Symphonicities reject: )

 

[u2popmofo]

I more go by the Netflix ratings of 3 = liked it, 4 = really liked it, 5 = loved it.

 

[bono_212]

My RYM rating system, arbitrarily created by me after seeing the Netflix rating system a few months ago is:
5.0 - Perfect/Bad-Ass
4.5 - Top 50 Quality
4.0 - Great
3.5 - Good, but not great
3.0 - Middle of the Road
2.5 - A few good tracks
2.0 - Eh?
1.5 - Bad
1.0 - No effect on me whatsoever
0.5 - Garbage

 

[Axver]

0.

I was going to say this, then I remembered I gave Alcest's latest 5/5. I stand by that for now, but it's marginal. Agalloch's may get there with time. Plenty of 4.5s though!

 

[The Sad Punk]

Lots of great songs this year, but not many great albums, IMO.

 

[u2popmofo]

Popmatters has started their 2010 lists this week (they add a couple per day. So far they have Indie Rock, Indie Pop, Jazz, Hip Hop, and singles.

Linky here:

PopMatters Picks: The Best Music of 2010 < PopMatters

 

[bono_212]

Part 2 of Last.fm is up, Whooooa Two Door Cinema Club. Well done.

Best of 2010 - #20 - Tegan and Sara – Last.fm

 

[u2popmofo]

Back to the "December refresher" many of us are doing, I hadn't listened to the Flying Lotus album in almost 4 months. Forgot how much I liked it.

 

[Catman]

I've never listened to either Frightened Rabbit or The Radio Dept. before this thread, so thank you

And as for my favorite... uhh... I know it's a cliche, but I can't think of anything I enjoyed more than The Suburbs I mean, I liked Janelle Monae's cd, pleasantly surprised by former emo-punk/rock/pop-turned country/Americana artist Brett Detar, and satisfied with Kanye West... but that's really about it There's no doubt been a ton that I've been disappointed with, though (I'm looking at you James, Band of Horses, and His Name is Alive, among others).

Anyway, just wanted to pop in and say that I love end-of-the-year threads - gives me a chance to catch up on the best of what the year has had to offer

 

[mobvok]

AV Club Bestest Music o' 2010

Kanye takes #1.

I don't know how I feel exactly about numerical ratings, other than that Pitchfork's decimal system drives me fucking batty with their specificity. Something I think a few studies have turned up when aggregating online sites' 0-10 scale is that it often turns into nitpicking a 7-10 scale as grade inflation takes over.

Sometimes being a little blunt is more useful. That's why, like Catman, I really really like these Best Of lists (in spite of the obvious pitfall of trying to argue rankings) because someone's telling you "you should really leave 2010 having heard these". Boom. There you go.

 

[IWasBored]

fuck pitchfork.


i liked the spin list, not so much because i actually liked the list itself (call me close-minded, but i can't support a list with kanye at the top, sorry. i know the album is supposed to be excellent and everything, but i'm never going to hear it because his stuff has always 100% irritated the shit out of me and i am 99% certain this one won't be any different. just don't like it), but the video thing at the bottom made me hear titus andronicus and that song just made me happy.

 

[LemonMelon]

The 50 Best Albums of 2010 :: Blogs :: List of the Day :: Paste
40 best: albums of 2010 – FACT magazine: music and art
Gigwise Top 50 Albums Of 2010 | Gigwise
30 Best Albums of 2010 - Spinner
The Best Albums of 2010 - Rhapsody SoundBoard
Stereogum’s Top 50 Albums Of 2010 - Stereogum

 

[bono_212]

fuck pitchfork.


i liked the spin list, not so much because i actually liked the list itself (call me close-minded, but i can't support a list with kanye at the top, sorry. i know the album is supposed to be excellent and everything, but i'm never going to hear it because his stuff has always 100% irritated the shit out of me and i am 99% certain this one won't be any different. just don't like it), but the video thing at the bottom made me hear titus andronicus and that song just made me happy.

So, because you don't like something, but realize that a great deal many other people do, just because you don't like it you can't take a list seriously that would rate it highly?

I mean, it's fine to not like something, but the statement you're making is kind of off-putting.